Homelessness: Shelter Connection

I thought the Shelter Connection presentation was really good. I thought it was unique how they decided to cover the issue of homelessness. There are many social issues, and homelessness is often ignored or forgotten among the others. While introducing this particular issue, their use of statistics and insight helped remove my preconceived notions on how people actually become homeless. I believe that stereotypes have created many misconceptions about the homeless. Often, they are labeled as being lazy, drug addicts, or are poor decision-makers. The presenters showed that there are many serious factors that contribute to homelessness, including unemployment. Unemployment makes up about 35% of all homeless people living in America which is a huge part. So in reality, many homeless people are victims and did not ask for or contribute to their current living situations. Personally, I have never been educated on this social issue and my only knowledge of the homelessness comes from stories I hear or from the news. The presenters introduction of this issue helped remove misconceptions caused by stereotypes and provided thorough explanations on the seriousness behind this issue with plenty of clear evidence. I think for homelessness to be taken more seriously and to overcome the stereotypes, more people have to learn about the reality behind it and understand that there are many serious factors and misfortunes that contribute to the homelessness.

The Shelter Connection solution to help aid the issue of homelessness highly impressed me. I like how instead of attacking the issue full on, they created a small solution that could likely develop into much larger solution. Their website allows people to help the homeless by supporting the local programs or organizations that specifically help the homeless. My favorite feature was the one where the organization could request items of need and the donor could instantly ship the necessary items to the organization through the click of an Amazon button. This allows for both the organization and donor to not rely on the transportation of these items which may be heavy or take up much space; instead they can be delivered by a truck and more and more donors can easily contribute easily, rather than going out and buying all the items himself. Overall, I thought the website was well designed and offered plenty of resources in helping to fix homelessness. The presenters showed an easy way for average people like myself to help the homelessness by supplying the helpers. I thought that this was an interesting concept with good efficiency.